Brush and holder assembly



2 Sheels-Sheet l Jan. 2, 1968 R. A. O'NEIL BRUSH AND HOLDER ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. '7, 1966 Jan. 2, 1968 R. A. o'NElL BRUSH AND HOLDER ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 7, 1966 5 y 5 m H @Y m a 4 N 6 m W wH 4 02o 2 7 oo 4 v W O .A rf 2 rf n .\\\\\\\w\\.`. 5

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/9 R BY 'il` l if Il Il rl Il Il Il Il .fl Il Il Il Il 1 .l Il Il Il Il Il if l Il Il Il Il if Il I United States Patent O 3,361,507 BRUSH AND HOLDER ASSEMBLY Robert A. ONeil, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Columbia Carbon Company, a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 519,268 8 Claims. (Cl. S12- 206) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toilet brush and holder assembly comprising a brush having a bristle portion with a long armed handle and a holder adapted to receive the brush. The holder comprises a rectangular shaped receptacle having an apertured swingable lid responsive to the insertion or removal of the brush and a handle receiving arm attached to the receptacle for mounting the holder to a wall and maintaining the handle erect when the brush isV in the holder. A pin which contacts the brush is axed to the underside of the lid causing the lid to close when the brush is placed in the receptacle and open when it is pulled out.

The present invention relates broadly to cleaning implements and is more particularly directed to a novel brush and holder assembly especially suited for bathroom use and in which the holder or receptacle for the brush features in part a cover which may be manipulated from a closed to an open position, and the reverse, without the necessity of the user making direct hand or linger contact with the receptacle, thus avoiding the possibility of personal contamination from the receptacle.

Toilet bowl brush and receptacle or cannister combinations are of course well known to the art, and a typical construction embodies a cylindrical container which either completely or partially houses the brush and handle. Some structures also include a removable cover, while others employ a hinged lid. However, all constructions of which I am aware require that the cover lid be linger manipulated when itis desired to be opened or closed, and necessarily after the brush has been used to cleanse the toilet bowl, excess water drips onto the cover or lid when the brush is returned to the receptacle or cannister, posing a health problem.

Also, brush and holder assemblies have of late been constructed of decorative plastics so that they may be retained in the bathroom. However, since they rest on the lloor, another item must be moved when the floor is mopped. Then too, even though the brush and receptacle are made of colorful plastics, some people are indisposed to leave them in full view and they are accordingly stored in an inconvenient location such as a closet.

It is, therefore, an important aim of the present invention to provide a brush and cannister assembly which overcomes each of the foregoing objections to prior art structures.

Another object of this invention lies in the provision of a brush and holder combination wherein the lid for the holder may easily be manipulated to an open or closed position by the brush itself, with no necessity for the user to touch the lid.

Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a holder and brush assembly which can be conveniently supported upon the toilet closet in substantially an out-ofsight location.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and claims.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

ICC

FIGURE 1 is generally a front elevational view of the assembly of this invention, a portion of the lid being shown in phantom lines to `further illustrate the opening thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the brush itself;

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view through the brush and holder, and also showing in phantom lines a portion of the bowl closet as an illustrative support;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the brush and cannister to illustrate the cooperation between the brush and lid during the closing operation; and

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 to show the lid opening operation.

Referring now to the drawings, and first to FIGURE l thereof, a brush and holder assembly is designated therein generally by the legend A, the brush portion being identied as B and the cannister or holder portion as H. As appears also in FIGURES 2 and 3, the brush B includes a slightly curved handle 10 of generally U-shaped crosssection having embedded in its lower end a wire member 11 which supports a plurality of bristles 12. The wire member lll, as is conventional `with toilet bowl brushes, has a loop portion 11a to which the bristles are attached whereby the brush has a contour convenient for access to all portions of the toilet bowl. As is also conventional, the bristles 12 are desirably nylon or of other synthetic composition. Y Y

The cannister or holder portion H ingeneral is comprised of a receptacle 13 mounting by pins or the like 14 a swingable lid 15. As appears also in FIGURE 4, the receptacle 13 is provided with generally upright end walls 16 and 17 which connect with a forwardly sloping front wall 18, an upwardly sloping bottom wall 19, and an. upright rear wall Ztl to which is integrally molded a relatively slender upstanding brush handle-receiving portion 21 of generally U-shaped cross section. Suitably secured to or molded integrally with the handle-receiving portion 21 is a mounting bracket 22 shaped to include a relatively ilat body portion 22a from which depends an outwardly turned flange portion 2212, the upper end of the body portion 22a connecting with a ledge portion 22C shaped as at 22d to engage the upper end of a toilet tank or closet wall 23.

With reference particularly to FIGURES l and 4 to 6, the lid member l5 is provided with a top wall 24 apertured at 24a to accommodate the bristle portion 12 of the brush B. The top wall has integrally molded therewith a pair of downwardly dependent end walls 25 and 26 and also a downwardly directed front Wall 27, whereby the lid 15 tits closely upon the upper end of the receptacle 13 when in the closed position.

An important feature of the present invention is the provision of means on the underside of the lid top wall Z4 which cooperates with the brush to open and close the lid or cover 15 during withdrawal or insertion of the brush, rendering unnecessary finger or hand contact with the lid. Such means are shown in FIGURES 4 to 6, and in a preferred embodiment takes the form of a tapered protuberance or pin 2S positioned generally centrally of the length of the lid top wall 24 and forwardly of the longitudinal centerline of the wall 24 approximately one-third of the distance from the lid front wall 27 to the receptacle rear wall 2t). Stated otherwise, a convenient location for the pin or peg 2S on the under surface of the top wall 24 is immediately forwardly of the aperture 24a. Naturally, a slender longitudinally extending bar or other like means can be substituted for the pin, which, it should be noted, is integrally molded to the receptacle lid.

While it is believed that the mode of operation of my invention is manifest from the drawings, a Ibrief descrip- 3 tion will be given. Assuming that the parts are in the position of FIGURE 4, upward movement of the brush B causes the upper surface of the brush bristles 12 to con-L tact the lower surface of the pin 28. This initiates swinging movement of the cover or lid about the pivot point 14 in the manner of FIGURE 6 until the cover is in the fully open position of FIGURE 5. After use, the brush is pushed downwardly against the pin 28, as shown in the latter View, causing counter-clockwise swinging movement of the door 15 to restore it to the closed position of FIGURES 4 and 6.

It may now be seen that applicant has provided a novel brush and holder assembly which does not require for its use hand or nger contact with the receptacle or cannister. Applicants construction also is of limited size, does not greatly exceed the prole of the toilet water closet, and can be suspended therefrom in an off-floor location. All parts with the exception of the brush wire 11a are plastic, can be rapidly injection molded, and are light weight. As is also believed manifest from the description and drawings, various `modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention `or the scope of the subjoined claims.

The embodiments of the invention, in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed, are dened as follows:

1. An assembly for use in cleaning toilet bowls and the like comprising:

a receptacle;

an apertured swingable mounted on the receptacle;

a brush having a bristle portion receivable in said receptacle and a handle attached to said bristle portion and passable through the aperture in said cover member;

a handle receivingarm having a UK-shaped cross-section lixedly mounted at one end to the receptacle whereby the handle is held in place; and

a means on the underside of said cover member engageable with said bristle portion for swinging said cover member from a closed to an open position and vice versa during movement of said brush.

2. A cleaning assembly as defined in claim 1, in which the means is a pin memberY integrally molded with said cover member.

3. An assembly for use in cleaning toilet bowl and the cover member pivotally w like, comprising a cannister having a swingable apertured lid normally closing the open end thereof, an upstanding support member integral with said cannister said support 3, in which the means comprises a pin member generally centrally disposed relative to the length of the lid and forwardly of the aperture therein.

5. A cleaning assembly as defined in claim 2, in which pivot means are provided linking said cover member and said receptacle along the upper front surface thereof.

6. A Vcleaning assembly of the character dening in claim 3, in which the support member at its upper end is provided with bracket means for hanging said cleaning assembly in an elevated position relative to a floor.

7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the receptacle comprises:

an upwardly sloping bottom wall;

an'upright rear wall iixedly mounted to the end of the handle receiving arm;

a forwardly sloping front wall; and

generally upright end Walls connecting with the front wall, the rear Wall and the bottom wall.

8. The assembly of claim 7 wherein the means on the underside of the cover member comprises:

a tapered protuberance positioned centrally on the underside of the cover member approximately onethird of the distancefrom the front Wall tothe rear wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS i 1,212,645 1/1917 Kane et al S12-207 X 2,757,787 8/ 1956 Sergent S12-207 X 2,950,946 8/ 1960 StarworthV 312--207 2,972,419 2/ 1961 Zelen et al. 248-317 X CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. 

